Blood bursts from Garvid's mouth, and as he reaches to wipe it, gutteral laughter follows. He crashes onto the ground with a loud guffaw, red droplets covering his armour as he laughs. "Right... In my... ow...", he heaves out, mid-laughter.
Li's fake giggles once more become forced laughter as Jolistina's mace makes contact with the rogue.
At least what she was doing was hurting the insane jester, if only incrementally. Retreating another step from the mace's menace, Yaziyah calls upon the power of Pharasma once more.
Blood bursts from Garvid's mouth, and as he reaches to wipe it, gutteral laughter follows. He crashes onto the ground with a loud guffaw, red droplets covering his armour as he laughs. "Right... In my... ow...", he heaves out, mid-laughter.
Li's fake giggles once more become forced laughter as Jolistina's mace makes contact with the rogue.
At least what she was doing was hurting the insane jester, if only incrementally. Retreating another step from the mace's menace, Yaziyah calls upon the power of Pharasma once more.
”What’s so funn--Gah!!!” Amin is (finally) woken from his very deep slumber. He jumps to his feet, unsheating his rapier and stabbing at the corpse, though the sharp tip merely skewers a piece of patchwork fabric.
”Ouch, that hurts!” Jolistina pouts at Yaziyah. ”I’m beginning to think you don’t like me!” She rushes forward, mace lifted high over her head.
___________________________
Garvid: 58/72, prone
Kynes: 43/52
Li: 37/61, extremely amused
Talfryn: 57/57
Yazi: 44/49
Wiping the grin and blood from his face, Garvid rises up. "Hey, Jolistina!", he roars, his halberd swinging through the air in an overhead swing as the jester reaches to defend herself. The halberd's blade cleaves into the wooden handle, sending splinters flying everywhere. Tapping the halberd on his palm, a real, brutal smile spreads on Garvid's lips. "Fun time's over, sunshine."
Kynes wants to attack. But he is wary of this crazed opponent. Loss of self control is absolute anathema to an investigator. Its why they often avoid casual libations. Pausing for a second, Kynes reaches into his belt for an extract he'd prepared that morning. Usually used for to hasten combat, channel vigor had alternative uses for an astute investigator, if so chosen: Fortification of the mind or body. Swallowing its bitter tube, the vigor surgest through his body, but he directs it to his spirit, strengthening his will to admantine.
Though the carnival is over, this will be our last goodbye.
Gasping for breath, heart lurching within his chest as if it were trying to make a break for it down his left arm, Talfryn comes to his senses outside a strangely familiar house - only to realize he's spent the past few minutes racing around the block to fetch right back up where he started.
Wheezing, sweating profusely, he staggers up to a window and sees the horrific jester within. Raising a weaving hand, he summons his will and channels hellfire upon her motley form.
"Don't take it personally, girl, I don't like anyone." Yaziyah responds with a lopsided grin as she notices the full effects of her powers on Jolistina. Perhaps it is what makes her swing so clumsy, and the Shoanti woman easily dodges out of the way.
Li's eyes burn with hate as forced laughter continue to erupt from the rogue. She clutches her crossbow tightly just waiting for the compulsion to leave her body so that she could lodge a matching bolt into Jolistina's other eye.
"Fun time's over, sunshine." The blade of Garvid’s halberd cleaves into the wooden handle, sending splinters flying everywhere.
Kynes wants to attack. But he is wary of this crazed opponent. Loss of self control is absolute anathema to an investigator. Its why they often avoid casual libations. Pausing for a second, Kynes reaches into his belt for an extract he'd prepared that morning. Usually used for to hasten combat, channel vigorhad alternative uses for an astute investigator, if so chosen: Fortification of the mind or body. Swallowing its bitter tube, the vigor surgest through his body, but he directs it to his spirit, strengthening his will to admantine. ”Though the carnival is over, this will be our last goodbye.”
Gasping for breath, heart lurching within his chest as if it were trying to make a break for it down his left arm, Talfryn comes to his senses outside a strangely familiar house - only to realize he's spent the past few minutes racing around the block to fetch right back up where he started. Wheezing, sweating profusely, he staggers up to a window and sees the horrific jester within. Raising a weaving hand, he summons his will and channels hellfire upon her motley form. Jolistina is consumed by fire. Her festive fabrics smoke and smolder, her tightened flesh blistering and bubbling…
"Don't take it personally, girl, I don't like anyone." Yaziyah responds with a lopsided grin as she notices the full effects of her powers on Jolistina.
...The jester screams as the wave of light washes over her. She spins in a circle, attempting to brush away the pain.
Li’s final bolt strikes her through the other eye socket with such force that she is thrown back against the wall, the bolt skewering her head to the wall. The fire continues to crackle and her blackened skin burns away. Her cracked lips open and close as she summons her last breath, the tiny bells of her hat tinkling sadly. ”Surely he’ll love me now… forever…for always....”
___________________________
”So what do you mean to do now?” Amin asks the following morning, lacing his boots. He appears uneasy. ”I don’t mean to sound ungrateful, but with two dead Mantis in the basement and an undead clown barbecued on the wall, I’m not sure I’m, hmmm, cut out for this line of work… I thought I might try my luck elsewhere, maybe back in Bridgefront.”
Li scrambles to her feet and shakes her head at Jolistina's last words. "It be never, not always. She bein' a fool thinkin' a Lamm could be lovin' anyone."
"How she be findin' us? Rolth be sendin' her after us so what be keepin' him from sendin' other monstrosities?"
_____________________
Li's stomach rumbles in an unladylike manner reminding her that she'd become too accustomed to regular meals at Cal's. "We still be needin' ta be findin' Vencarlo an' now we also gotta be chasin' tha Mantises."
The rogue gives Amin a doubtful look, "I don't be thinkin' anywhere in Old Korvosa be safer than others. But I c'n be understandin' if'n ya wanna be keepin' yer distance from us."
Yaziyah puts a hand on Amin's shoulder, as with the other she unknots one of the many fetishes hanging at her belt. "Take this, go to my people in Bridgefront. Tell them that Speaks For The Dead sent you. They'll offer you hospitality and protection."
That bit of business concluded, she looks down at the twice-corpse in disgust. "Yes, we need to take care of Rolth. But for now, Vencarlo is our priority."
Amin stands, securing his rapier and accepting Yazi's fetish. "Speaks for the Dead. I hope that's not a prediction for my future."
He peers out the door before cracking it open. "The artist, Salvator, lived in a building at 140 Wave Street in Old Dock. Please be careful, that area's under the control of the Emporer. I hope that we can meet again under better circumstances. Until then, good luck."
He slips out into the street.
Garvid roars out, tossing his halberd to the ground. "Abadar damnit! How'd she get here? Did Rolth attack the Citadel? Is the marshall...", he pauses, and the frenzied face begins to simmer down. "F!+@ this. No point in getting pissed about things we can do nothing about now." Stepping over to give a brutal kick to Jolistina's ribs, he sighs out with the sound of bellows.
Turning to Amin, he gives the young man a nod. "It's a prediction of just about everyone's future, if you look far enough." The grin on Garvid's face is morbid. "But you did good. Takes some balls, lunging at her like that. But you're not good to anyone dead. Stay safe, and do what you can. And hold on." Reaching over to his belongings, he draws the sack of medicine and lasting food. "Take this to them too. Much as it don't look it, we're here to help. And good luck to you, too."
Almost an extension of the Shingles from Bridgefront, the rooftop byways and shanties of Old Dock drop off quickly near the warehouses along the waterfront. Nearer the center of the island, though, the Shingles of Old Dock are almost as congested as those of Bridgefront. In addition to dangers exacerbated by recent events, chokers and imps are among the indigenous hazards.
The reek of the docks wafts through the streets of this district, under normal circumstances due in no small measure to the fish stalls and carts laden with cockles and mussels offered too late. Now the smell of burnt wood and and the metallic tinge of blood serve as bass chords to the bouquet of the district. The war for territory takes place beyond these streets, for here a different sort of police force roams the streets. Of the hundreds of people who lived in Old Dock, it seems most of them now serve a new master. They roam the street with axes and shields, pounding the cobblestones with a brazen authority.
As you approach an intersection, a group of these “thugs” surrounds you. ”Wha' 'ave we go' 'ere? a group ov gen'lemen an' ladies ou' faw a mawnin stroll? bu' you 'aven'' paid 'he toll! You should knah ‘he Emperaw demands 'is toll? wha' do you say gen's? should we 'ake a finger from 'he men, an' a kiss from 'he ladies?” He leers at Li and Yazi.
Two men appear from the shadows behind you, axes in hand. ”Just a lil’ kiss…” One murmers…
Li subtly releases her dagger into her palm and her deft reflexes keep it from being noticed.
Li knows she needs to both get closer and keep their suspicions from being raised if she is going to take them by surprise with her dagger. "Just a kiss? That don't be soundin' too bad."
| 3 people marked this as a favorite. |
Talfryn edges back, torn: on one hand, they could destroy these fools with little effort. On the other, doing so would be utterly reprehensible. Thus the tension: how to navigate the complexities of mundane muggings without calling down unnecessary hellfire and scorching idiots off the face of the world.
Hmm.
Talfryn seeks to identify the leader of the group. What did one call a group of idiots? A flock? A dismality? A duncity? Regardless. Perhaps the one who was speaking. The leader often spoke first, unless they were cunning and sat back to observe, but that didn't seem to be the case here.
No. Perhaps the speaker then.
Talfryn makes the necessary gestures, whispers a few words beneath his bushy mustache, and then casts Charm Person on the fool. Once the spell is laid, he edges forward, tugging at the broad lapels of his now much abused greatcoat, and eyeing the man through his monocle.
"Ah, there you are my good friend. Just in time. We were looking for you. Important business is afoot, Rovagug damn it! We need more information on the Emperor, and you're just the person to give it to us. Be a useful lad, yes? Where is he located? Do you know his real name? The size and extent of his armaments?"
The thug grins crookedly at Li, showcasing a spread of green teeth as twisted and broken as the piers of Old Dock.
”Magician! Stop ‘em!” As Talfryn casts his spell, the thugs leap to action with surprising alacrity.
”Cu' 'hem like fishes, we will!”
”No one casts spells wi'hou' 'he emperaw's leave!”
The two behind rush Li and Yazi, romantic thoughts fled in favor of those of a more hematic nature. Their ax blades flash even in the shadow of the alley.
hit
hit
Two thugs confront Kynes and Garvid. Garvid blocks the blow with his forearm as a throwing axe whistles by his head and clatters across the cobblestones. Kynes isn’t so lucky and receives a deep gash below his collarbone...
miss
hit
miss
___________________________
Garvid: 72/72
Kynes: 31/52
Li: 50/61
Talfryn: 57/57
Yazi: 31/49
initiatives rolled in roll20
"Bugger this for a lark," growls Talfryn, trying to hide his shock at how quickly this has devolved. He calls out another spell, magic suffusing his allies as he does so.
Despite the snarl on Garvid's face, the guardsman remains quiet and peaceful until the thugs break into an assault. Finally. Unrepentant a**$&&!s. As the battleaxe clangs off his forearm, he locks gaze with the thug in front of him, as a grin slowly spreads across his face. "Hold on, pal.", his left arm grabs the man's shield and pulls him forward, only for his forehead to collide with the thug's mangy snout. With a gut-wrenching crack, Garvid steps back, cracking his neck as the thug crashes to the ground. "Here's your kiss."
The axe buries itself in Yaziyah's shoulder just as she begins to turn towards the malodorous menace, blood darkening the fabric of her dress. She grunts in pain and shock, then turns fully to stare daggers at her attacker.
Kynes eyes the man besides Li, locking him in, and then whips his bladed scarf past Li's ears, to slice at thug's face in thousands of delicate cuts. [b]The Lantern bares your ill for all to inspect. Flee before us, or drop your weapon.[/ooc] Kynes eyes are hard beneath his monstrous helm, and his words grate on the man's nerves. And he sends his blades again at the man's temple. Turning, his scarf whips around like a viper to slash at the man at his back, but its length defected against the walls of the alley, losing hits biting force.
Li is forced to just react as the others trigger an attack from the group. Not liking being trapped in between green teeth and Leah, she contorts her body to squeeze past her foe in order to get behind the two with axes.
"Bugger this for a lark," growls Talfryn, trying to hide his shock at how quickly this has devolved. He calls out another spell, magic suffusing his allies as he does so.
Despite the snarl on Garvid's face, the guardsman remains quiet and peaceful until the thugs break into an assault. Finally. Unrepentant a+*#~~@s. As the battleaxe clangs off his forearm, he locks gaze with the thug in front of him, as a grin slowly spreads across his face. "Hold on, pal.", his left arm grabs the man's shield and pulls him forward, only for his forehead to collide with the thug's mangy snout. With a gut-wrenching crack, Garvid steps back, cracking his neck as the thug crashes to the ground. "Here's your kiss."
The axe buries itself in Yaziyah's shoulder just as she begins to turn towards the malodorous menace, blood darkening the fabric of her dress. She grunts in pain and shock, then turns fully to stare daggers at her attacker.
Kynes eyes the man besides Li, locking him in, and then whips his bladed scarf past Li's ears, to slice at thug's face in thousands of delicate cuts. The Lantern bares your ill for all to inspect. Flee before us, or drop your weapon. Kynes eyes are hard beneath his monstrous helm, and his words grate on the man's nerves. And he sends his blades again at the man's temple. Turning, his scarf whips around like a viper to slash at the man at his back, but its length defected against the walls of the alley, losing hits biting force.
Li is forced to just react as the others trigger an attack from the group. Not liking being trapped in between green teeth and Leah, she contorts her body to squeeze past her foe in order to get behind the two with axes.
miss
”Bloody ‘ell!” the thugs scream as Kynes’s scarf goes flying. ”They’ve killed Ames!” another yells as Garvid drops another. They heft their axes, going for blood.
miss
miss
hit
hit
___________________________
Garvid: 65/72
Kynes: 20/52
Li: 50/61
Talfryn: 57/57
Yazi: 31/49
Kynes eyes turn to the man behind him, swiftly identifying the man's vulnerabilities, and strikes! The first blow glances off armor, but twas a feint only for the tail end of the scarf whips precisely back to snag around the man's helm. Kynes yanks hard, causing a small spray of blood as chsmall chunks of flesh are removed. This is the beginning of the end of the world as you know it, and I feel fine.. Glancing back, Kynes he calls upon his deep training for martial inspiration. He yanks his scarf back in an intricate manuever to pound at the rogue's chest as the man came for Li, axe held high.
Li is surprised that she manages to get past green teeth unscathed considering her stumble as she moves past him.
Kynes' attacks get the thug's full attention leaving his back exposed to Li. She takes full advantage and plunges her dagger into his spine, severing key arteries. "Ya shoulda be keepin' yer hands ta yerself."
Yaziyah curses softly as she sees the thug in front of her shake off the effects of her magic. She hears the familiar sound of Garvid thumping fools into oblivion and smiles to herself. The unfamiliar whistling and swishing turns out to be Kynes doing some strange scarf dance that leaves blood and chunks of flesh scattered over the dirt of the alley and the walls hemming them in. Beautiful and deadly.
Now, what to do with this fool in front of her. They just didn't know any better, did they? They were outnumbered and outmatched, and still they brandished their weapons and tried to fight.
"Why don't you take a break, dear?" she suggests sweetly, her left hand making a caressing motion as she tries to instill the idea of sleep into the man before her.
Go! Bring your friends, your pads, your snively bosses. Let's just get this done with now. Kynes shouts, challenging the district with a menacing call to order.
Seeing Kynes turn around to help the others, Garvid sneers at the second thug. Saying nothing, his halberd latches onto the man's shield, prying it away as he brings the hilt down in the man's shin with a snap. Feeling the axe dent his armour and bruise his ribs, he snarls, the flat of the blade colliding with the thug's shoulders. "Ames isn't dead, you solly sops. Unless you want to eat your teeth, drop the axes.", he grumbles at the foes behind him. "Before you really piss me off."
Yazi's unique charms fail to penetrate the thug's simple mind . As Kynes and Garvid pummel the hooligans into submission, Li goes for blood and shivs one from behind Reeling from Garvid's blows and Yazi's evil eye, the remaining two thugs break a retreat down the alleys from which they appeared.
"'he emperaw'll hear've dis!" they scream as they disappear around the block.
Garvid: 65/72
Kynes: 20/52
Li: 50/61
Talfryn: 57/57
Yazi: 31/49
Garn slashing wounds hurt. Blood seeps from a gash in Kynes thigh. Speaking of which, which one of you was it? It is truly a finely crafted dagger you gifted me. I suspect only Li could have secreted it in my pack without me catching them. Kynes begins to dig into his pack. Ah yes here it is. Kynes pulls out a silver dagger, its handle crafted into the image of a serpent entwined about itself, with wide-open mouth appearing to devour the blade above it, fangs extended. Kynes hands it over to Li for inspection.
++
Kynes pulls out a small wand, taps Garvid and Li once, Yazi twice, and himself thrice. Then he swallows an extract that takes like oak.
Li blanches as Kynes holds out the dagger to her. "I ain't be touchin' that dagger an' I ain't tha one who be puttin' it in yer bag. It be doin' spooky things an' be makin' people act odd."
Kynes inspects the dagger again, surprised. What do you think Lord Talfryn? Come to think of it, its not my style.
Eyes wide, Yaziyah makes a warding motion at the sight of the dagger. "How did it get in your pack? Last I checked, it was in mine. Li is right, it's doing strange things and we never figured out what it is, besides magical. Throw it in the Jeggare, I say."
Lord Talfryn takes the dagger in hand, adjusting his monocle as he does so, and turns it about, jutting out his lower lip as he does so.
"Nasty looking little thing, isn't it. What manner of strange things has it been responsible for?"
The thugs are quickly and quietly relieved of their weapons, their unconscious bodies placed inconspicuously in a nearby recess in the alleys. The group then heads onward toward the artist’s lair.
The theater’s acts included gore-filled plays with faux tortures, false murders, fake rapes, and other fabrications meant to horrify and sicken the audience. By far the most popular act, though, was the so-called “death play,” in which a masked performer gruesomely “murdered” a volunteer from the audience for all the rest to enjoy. Some spectators and officials wondered how many of the acts used stage effects and chicanery and how many might actually have performed what they purported to only represent. Volunteers sometimes turned up missing after a performance, and the theater had a high turnover rate for young and pretty assistants (Swastel claimed the latter was due to admittedly low wages and the squeamishness of “the delicate sex”). Due to these and other complaints, the Sable Company had attempted on multiple occasions to infiltrate and investigate the theater, and the Korvosan Guard even called upon Hellknights to prematurely end shows more than once.
Nearly as controversial as the theater, Exemplary Execrables also offered an attached museum (with a separate admission fee, of course). The museum offered exhibits such as “Two-Dozen-and-Three Severed Heads,” “Unwanted Fetuses,” and “Instruments of Torture and Murder.” This last exhibit, the most popular of them all, featured a working guillotine from Galt, complete with an attached chalkboard counting the number of fingers lost to overcurious patrons (the last count stood at 37). All other instruments and devices in the exhibit were disabled or blunted to hinder inquisitive fools from maiming themselves or others.
Salvator's home is a leaning, decrepit building located along the Narrows, not far from one of the many now-ruined bridges that once connected Old Korvosa to the mainland .
To the south, what once might have been a small house has been obliterated, collapsed from within by a twenty-foot diameter sinkhole. Water from the Narrows fills the hole, creating a muddy pit strewn with jagged bits of timber and flotsam. The edges of the hole are slick and patchy with fungus. Immediately south of the sinkhole, the boardwalk has also collapsed, creating a dangerous tangle of timber and crazily tilted pilings.
Garvid: 72/72
Kynes: 47/52, barkskin
Li: 59/61
Talfryn: 57/57
Yazi: 49/49
So. Not a gift. But you are familiar with it? Kynes eyes it critically. [/b]What dark mystery is this? [/b] Grinning suddenly Although I must confess to a certain relief; I hadn't wanted to be rude, but snake daggers do not really fit with my whole Lamplighter get.
The dagger reappearing puts a frown on Garvid's face, as he nods at Yazi. "I'd agree with you. But it's a lead to the Arkonas, and might get us an audience. Then, we throw that little nightmare maker in the Jeggare." He stares daggers at the dagger, before sighing. "And even then, I'd not be even the slightest bit surprised if it shows up back like a bad rash."
Scoffing, Garvid stares at the house. "Great. All the fires in the Old Docks, and this place's still standing. Can't say I blame the fire, I wouldn't want to be next to this nutter either." Eyeing the house with a suspicious glance, he points to the ground. "Not a dirt expert, but this ground looks shifty.", he smiles, pausing for a moment longer than necessary. "Let's try and stay at least a couple paces from each other, if it gives. Anyone brought rope?"
| 3 people marked this as a favorite. |
"Hmm," rumbles Talfryn, rubbing his thick mustache and handing the blade back to Kynes. "Most strange. It's clearly magical, but that's all I can tell. Perhaps I can take a look later with my equipment. I might be able to discern more in a more studious setting."
Talfryn represses a shudder as they draw clear to the artist's home. "I've heard far too much about this young man and his, ah, shall we say 'proclivities'. An associate of mine, a professor, was shockingly fond of the shows put on by the Exemplary Execrables, as the theater styled itself. Would come over late at night, shaking and shivering like some sort of opiod fiend, and over brandy insist on recounting the ghoulish plays he had seen performed there."
Talfryn picks his way carefully over the muck and mud, stepping where possible on scattered boards.
"After one particularly awful night - he insisted on describing in loathsome detail how the corpse of a woman was left on stage to decompose at an inordinately accelerated rate - I finally bid him goodnight and asked him to never return. A frightful scene. But he did me the favor, perhaps, of preparing me for Salvator Scream's artistic endeavors. This artist is a profoundly disturbed young man, and I would not rule out his having attracted the attention of some imp or other denizen of the abyss who was either attracted to his perversities or the cause of them."
That said, he mutters a spell and presses his fingertips to his temple as he stares intently at the house.
You don't pick up any thoughts.
Yaziyah watches curiously as Lord Talfryn casts his spell, all the while keeping a hand on the various sticks at her belt, just in case. On her shoulder, His Holiness sniffs the air and sneezes unhappily at the stench of stagnant water and rotting debris.
"Yes, that place they call a theater has been the end for many of my people, lured by promises of gold and fame. Some would come out maimed or disfigured, others would not come out at all. Entertainment, hah! I could say a few words about those who enjoy such."
She casts a thoughtful glance at the decrepit hovel. "I wonder if this Salvator is as bad as you paint him to be. Vencarlo must have had a reason to associate with him and receive him into his house. I suppose we shall see."
Her patience at an end, she taps Talfryn with the blessing stick. "Enough of your muttering, let's go inside and see what we find."
Talfryn hurrumphs in annoyance.
"Peace, woman! Let a distinguished practitioner of the noble arts wrestle with the very fabric of reality without knocking him about with your walking stick - oh. A wand. Well."
He peers ahead at the building. "A preliminary search for thoughts reveals nothing. Of course that may indicate barriers of sufficient thickness to block my spell, or an unthinking peril, or..." He shrugs. "No conclusions may yet be -"
Lord Talfryn cuts off as Yazi no doubt loses patience with his explanations and begins to approach. Tugging on the lapels of his greatcoat, he mutters to himself as he does the same.
Garvid's grim face brightens up considerably as the Talfryn and Yazi begin their quarrel. "No, hold on, it was just getting entertaining!", he jests, his face bursting in a wide grin, as he nods towards the door. "We should head in, but please, keep it going. Was just getting curious about the fabric of reality." Chuckling, he traipses in the mucky ground, almost ducking out of the way as Yazi's wand taps him harder than necessary. We should've covered the back exit. Too late now., a thought, grounded in reality bursts in his head, as he knocks politely, yet firmly at the door. "Salvator Scream? You in there?", he inquires at the door, halberd at the ready.
This theater cast a dark shade on Kyne's spirits; representing a grave reminder of the waning influence his order had in recent years. No lamplighter is allowed to enter, and our lanterns are swiftly removed in the surrounding block. If there isn't something evil hiding in there... Kynes' voice fades to a mutter. I will prepare for the worst. A moment if you will. Amoment later, Kynes produces a slug of a pill. A mutagen. Alchemical alteration to my muscular structure and bones.
A series of sharp, rapid footfalls issues from inside the modest dwelling. The front door creaks open...
The smell of the entryway is of must and mildew, much of it coming from the mud tracked over the floorboards, as if a small army had marched through the room.
Standing in the doorway is an attractive elven woman with hair and eyes the color of coal. Her lithe figure is wrapped tightly in spiked, black armor leaving little to the imagination. Laced, spiked boots of patent leather sheath her legs up to her knees and send her towering up nearly eye level to Garvid. Coiled around her arm is a black, malefic spiked chain, the needled pendula of which swing lazily in the air just inches above the floor. She is an artfully wrapped package that promises a marriage of extremes: the sweetest of pleasures and the sharpest of pains.
Her dark eyes lock onto Garvid's. They sparkle with mischief as she breaks into a broad smile and scoffs. "Oh, my gosh! Are you, like, in the Guard? Like, THE Korvosan Guard? That is SO COOL!" She offers her hand in a high-five.
Yaziyah stops short as the door swings open, squinting at the woman with mistrust. "Who are you, girl? Where is the painter?" The reaction to Garvid throws her off a little, nobody who looked like that should be this happy to see members of the Korvosan Guard on their doorstep. But then again, the worshippers of Zon-Kuthon had always been a little strange.
I gather you like costumes. Or is there more than youthful rebellion to your Zon-Kuthon garb.
Talfryn frowns as the girl appears. How had she not registered in his Detect Thoughts spell? Was she under some form of magical protection - or an illusion?
Beetling his brows, Talfryn casts Detect Magic even as he tries to peer through the girl in case she's a figment of someone else's casting.
Garvid's eyebrow raises considerably as he regales the elven woman, the expression on his face a tangled mess of confusion, suspicion and interest. "That's us, miss.", he grunts out a moment later, pulling out his weathered badge and after a small consideration, accepts the high-five. Damn artists. Damn them all. He shrugs. "Sorry to bother you, but we're looking for Salvator Scream. We think he can help us solve something big." He ponders, his gaze locked on the elf for a moment longer. Friendly or not, she looks, hm. Eccentric.
He clears his throat. "May we come in?", he inquires, channelling everything he remembers from the Guards' official rulebook.
Kynes then gives the girl a charming aristocratic smile. It would be a pleasure to make your acquaintance.